Mom of 14-year-old accused of planning school shooting allegedly gave him permission to have guns, semi-automatic rifle; said it would ‘let him grow up’

The mother of a 14-year-old boy who allegedly planned a school shooting has been charged with providing firearms to her son.

ABC News reports that a Pennsylvania teen, who has not been identified, was arrested on January 25 following reports that he had bragged about his intent to commit a mass shooting at Uniontown High School in Markleysburg. One witness reportedly told police that the would-be shooter said he would target and kill four specific classmates.

When police executed a search warrant at the boy’s home, they reportedly found an arsenal of weapons in his bedroom: A shotgun, a revolver, two rifles, one semi-automatic rifle, two machetes, and a crossbow, along with ammunition.

When police interviewed the suspect’s mother Lenora Ann Hendrix, she reportedly admitted that she was aware of the guns and said she gave her son permission to have the weapons. She told police that she thought having guns would teach her son responsibility and “let him grow up.”

Fayette County District Attorney Richard Bower said in a news conference late last month following the teen’s arrest that the boy was confident about his ability to sneak weapons into the school, and had already planned how he would use multiple firearms in his would-be shooting spree.

Hendrix has been charged with knowingly and intentionally delivering or providing a firearm to a minor. Her son is facing multiple charges: possession of a firearm by a minor, criminal attempt to commit catastrophe, and terroristic threats.

[Feature image: Associated Press/A scene from the Marshall County, Kentucky, school shooting which took place two days before the Pennsylvania teen’s arrest]